Writers Circles, Workshopping and Crit Buddies

Writing groups. Love them? Hate them? Love to hate them? Whatever the case, we all need feedback as writers.

I was amazed to meet a couple of writers lastyear who never showed their work to anyone. While showing my writing to other writers is scary, confronting and only occasionally unhelpful, by and large it’s been the #2 thing that’s kept my writing improving over the past fewyears. (#1, of course, is actually writing).

I must say, though, that in the early days, I did allow a few people’s...